[Botanique]

Please pray for us out here. Luckily our house is on one of the islands with the strongest of levies! And so far our dock hasn't come up over its pilings ;-) However the poor people at the local trailer parks got flooded out.

Even though the Sac river is rising, we still have happy cows in California ;-)

Update -- its 3am and raining cats and dogs. Barrooooo! I'm going to treat myself to a slice of chocolate cheesecake and a glass of Van Ruiten Cab-Shiraz.

[Botanique]

Another update -- lots of areas flooding, so far we just have pools and the levy is holding. We are very lucky -- most people are packing sand bags and wading through a foot of water in their living room, with cars floating down main streets. I have never seen winds like this! And lightening with loud thunder on our property! Unfortunately Will is in Ft. Bragg so I'm by myself for a few days with this (at least I have the dogs!). We are supposed to get another front this afternoon then hopefully a reprieve. Lots of large tree limbs down, mud and water.

[castironchef]

Hang in there!

Our house is on top of a hill, with excellent drainage etc. (We purchased during a particularly nasty El Nino, so I KNOW there's no water problem!)

However, roads in most directions are closed, due to flooding. Staying around here tonight (our anniversary, too).

Hopes and prayers are with you.

[Botanique]

Cast -- hanging in. Happy Anniversary!

[Mezzaluna]

Wow, I'm sending prayers for better weather. Let us know if you see Noah's ark drifting by!

[chrose]

Good luck you guys, our thoughts for high ground and low water are with you.

[phoebe]

Keep us updated! David and I were supposed to drive up to visit friends in Mendocino, but 128 was closed and they were concerned that the 20 at Fort Bragg would close too (it did).
We are thinking of you and hoping the waters don't rise any further in the next two storms.

[Botanique]

Emily -- I wouldn't recommend driving up. I talked to my husband about an hour ago and they are attempting the trip down from Ft. Bragg. They are trying the coast cutting over parallel to Ukiah.

I'm doing okay and just praying he makes it home safe. Thanks for letting me vent! I'm honestly not normally a wuss, but it was just a little scary by myself. Right now its not raining, but the winds have kicked up again. Waiting for the 3rd punch to come any time now. I just feel so sorry for those that didn't have the levy strength that we do.

Venturing out now to look for boils along the levy! Then I'm coming back in to get warm and make some comforting German garlic soup.

Cheers! Stevie

[Jock]

We had a little squall pass over the City about an hour ago. Not much rain and the rivers are all below flood level again. Urban flodding in San Francisco tends to be a niusance more than anything else. I'm talking to co-workers today who are telling horror stories about their New Year experiences with flooding.

About 10 years ago in one of our El Nino storms a tree fell on my truck. I was seriously PO'd. I borrowed a company vehicle to get home that day and I was watching the news and enjoying a cup of tea. I saw a man in Guernville climb out of his 2nd storey window into a boat and I remember thinking that in the grand scheme of things my bent truck isn't that big of a deal.

I look at the flooding around the bay Area and I am reminded that I need to complain less and be more gratefull for what I have.

I wish all the flood victims good luck and dry days ahead.

Jock

[cape chef]

Geez.so much going on around the world! I wish you guys well.

[Botanique]

Lots of flooding around us, but for some reason we just have a some pools! We are so lucky.

[phoebe]

Originally Posted by Botanique

Lots of flooding around us, but for some reason we just have a some pools! We are so lucky.

Very glad to hear that you're OK! How long did it take your husband to get home? And how was the German garlic soup? What goes into it besides garlic and what makes it German?

[Botanique]

Em -- It took them about 6 hours, but they had to stop and attack a fallen tree with chain saws in the process. Yep, my husband's a stud

My family is German -- I was the only one born in the US. My father would make us garlic soup whenever we were sick or needed comfort -- he was quite "rough around the edges" and this gesture was something that warmed our hearts and stomachs and reminded us that he was human....

It is very basic (and of course, since rustic, can have added/thrown in ingredients) --

chicken stock (or whatever stock is available)
old bread
tons of garlic cloves
Hausfrauenart pickles (yes, pickles)
salt
pepper


Boil the stock. Rip bread up into 1-2 inch chunks. Place in large bowl with roughly chopped garlic, sliced pickles, salt, and pepper. Pour boiling stock over ingredients and cover the bowl with a plate to steep. Give it 5-10 minutes and devour!

I, of course, have experimented and devised a few allium soup recipes of my own (which I would be happy to share), but find myself going back to the old school for comfort.

[Mezzaluna]

I hope my translation skills are up to snuff... here's a recipe from a cookbook I got in France years ago, La Cuisine des Provinces de France. It attributes this recipe to the southeast region.

4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 leaves of sage
1.5 liters water
salt, pepper
1 loaf "pain de compagne", cut in slices
2 tablespoons olive oil

Put the garlic, sage and water in a pan and bring to a boil. Add the salt and pepper and let it simmer 15 minutes.

Remove the sage. Put the slices of bread in soup bowls and sprinkle with olive oil, then ladle the broth over the bread. Serve at once.

[phoebe]

These recipes are great. Perhaps we should have an entire string devoted to garlic soup recipes .

Botanique: Pickles???? What are Hausfrauenart pickles? What are they like? Where do you get them?

And while I can see Mezzaluna's recipe for boiling the garlic, just pouring the boiling stock over the garlic and then eating!?! Yikes! I adore garlic and almost always add more cloves than any recipe calls for, but this sounds seriously extreme. I've GOT to try it.